


Borrowed Time, Indeed

by tritone



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:21:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tritone/pseuds/tritone
Summary: If Archie had anything left to say, he must’ve thought twice, because all he did was hold his eyes for an extra second and nod slowly before turning heel and getting back into Fred’s truck. Jughead watches the road a few seconds longer than he should, long after the noise of the tires squealing, and the engine rattling, faded.As he turns back to the rest of the Serpents, his words from his conversation with Betty forever ago, at his birthday party, echo in his ears and bounce around his head. Borrowed time, indeed.





	Borrowed Time, Indeed

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place right after Betty is told by the Black Hood that she has to break up with Jughead and sends Archie to do it for her. That scene didn't sit quite right with me, because I really doubt he would've just accepted that they're done, especially not with Archie as messenger.  
> Here's how I think it would've actually played out.

 

 

            He feels his face flush as his anger rises, and his hands ball into fists where they hang limply at his sides. _She couldn’t… she wouldn’t!_ his brain quips, but even as he does, he feels the doubt wiggle its way into the back of his mind. _Would she?_

            “She would, man. She is.” Archie sadly meets his gaze, and hearing these words makes Jughead even angrier, somehow. He didn’t mean to say those words out loud, but he must have. His new gang members were behind him, watching silently. He couldn’t let himself seem weak, not over a north-side girl.

            Even so, he finds himself opening his mouth to argue. For once, though, he’s lost for words. He snaps his mouth shut, making eye contact with the stupid, red-headed messenger standing in front of him. He sees Archie’s eyes harden. “Listen, man, I honestly can’t blame her, and I think she’s better off for it. You know it, too. You didn’t really expect this to last, did you? You didn’t expect her to stay with you, it was a miracle she chose you before, but to slum it with a serpent-”

            He hears the crack of his fist meeting Archie’s jaw before he feels the pain, and even then, his throbbing knuckles feel numb compared to the pain in his chest. He never would have thought that he, Jughead Jones, would ever experience a broken heart, even after starting this thing with Betty… he didn’t think _she_ would be the one to break _his_ heart.

            Archie is looking defiant, cradling his jaw with his hand. There’s a little bit of blood coming from his mouth, and he watches him spit out a mouthful, getting a little on his shirt. He doesn’t feel bad. He’s not sure if he feels anything at all. “Get out of here, Archie. Next time I’ll break it.” If Archie had anything left to say, he must’ve thought twice, because all he did was hold his eyes for an extra second and nod slowly before turning heel and getting back into Fred’s truck. Jughead watches the road a few seconds longer than he should, long after the noise of the tires squealing, and the engine rattling, faded.

            As he turns back to the rest of the Serpents, his words from his conversation with Betty forever ago, at his birthday party, echo in his ears and bounce around his head. _Borrowed time, indeed_.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

            Betty’s door is locked, and she sits curled up in her window seat, looking across the yard into Archie’s dark room and trying her hardest to keep her mind blank. She felt hollow, broken, and numb.

            Her phone vibrates. She knows it isn’t Jughead, but she still doesn’t want to look at it. She doesn’t want to talk to anyone.

            Her phone vibrates again, and she pushes it onto the floor. That would be a problem for another day.

            She watches as Archie’s room floods with light. _He’s home_. She can tell that he’s cradling something against his jaw. At first glance, she can’t tell what it is, but as she squints, she can see that it looks to be a bag of frozen vegetables. He tosses it onto his desk and turns away from her to rummage through the drawer of his bureau. She watches as he pulls his shirt off, a light grey and seemingly stained with something dark, and pull on a fresh white one in its place.

            Finally, he looks over at her, where she’s curled up in her window seat just watching him. He drops his eyes to pick up his make-shift icepack, and as his head turns in the light, she can see the bruised and broken skin of his jawline. She presses her hand over her mouth tightly, stifling her half-gasp, half-sob.

            Archie raises his eyes to meet hers, lifting his phone with his free hand and giving it a little shake, indicating he wanted her to answer him. She shakes her head once, firmly, and he gives her a sad smile. “I’m sorry,” he mouths at her. “It’s done.”

            At this, she breaks down crying, her whole body heaving with sobs. “I’m sorry, too,” she mouths back, and then closes her blinds.

            Slowly her sides stop heaving, and all she is left with is the guilt stuck in her throat and pain that has consumed her. She sits there for long after midnight, long after she should have gotten into bed, and long after she sees Archie’s light go out through the cracks in her blinds.

            It’s both because of this, and because of the increasing pressure of the Black Hood, that she jumps a mile high when she hears the light tap at her window behind her, making her jump up so fast that she thinks she could’ve gotten whiplash.

            She sees the beanie before she sees anything else. Somehow, she hears her heart pounding in her ears and she feels a sob rip its way out of her throat. She didn’t think it was possible, but her heart feels like its broken all over again.

            The mantra that loops through her head of _please, no, please, no_ , makes it way out of her mouth. She can’t hear it over her own sobbing, but she knows that it does solely because she can feel her throat vibrate as the words force their way out.

            Her eyes are blurry with the tears, but she takes in everything she can, feeling that sense of déjà vu as she does. Her window was unlocked, because Jughead has his hand in the crack and is pushing it open. He looks upset, but handsome nonetheless, and he pulls himself through the window with a distinct lack of grace as he does. She doesn’t think about helping him until it’s too late, but she’s not sure that he would want her help anyway.

            She sits down on the floor, pulling her knees up and putting her head between them, taking slow, steady breaths until her sobs come to a stop. She keeps her eyes on his sneakers the entire time, worried that if she closes them for even a second, he’ll disappear. He doesn’t try to say anything, and neither does she. The silence between them has always been comfortable, but right now it’s feeling more like a curse than a blessing.

            When she feels like she has more control over herself, Betty picks her head up, and ever so slowly she raises her eyes to meet his. He looks a lot calmer than she would have expected him to, and she tries to steel herself to defend her breakup to his face. She needs to be strong, for him, and Veronica, and Archie, and anyone and everyone else she loves.

            Jughead gives her a small, tense smile, just for her, and it makes her want to drop her façade instantly. “I was trying to piece it all together. I was trying to figure out why the strongest woman I know would send someone else to do her dirty work for her. Archie told me a couple days ago that you suddenly sabotaged your friendship with Veronica, out of the blue, and wouldn’t tell him, or anyone else, why. If you wouldn’t tell him that, why would you ask him to break up with me? It didn’t make sense.” He gave a low, dry chuckle, dropping his gave to his hands while he fidgeted.

            “Jug-” she got out, but his eyes snapped up again.

            “I’m not finished yet. It didn’t make sense, until I considered the circumstances. You, Betty Cooper, love your friends and family more than anything else in this world. That includes me, and I know it does. I can feel it. I never stopped feeling it.” He sucked in a ragged breath, exhaling it slowly. “That’s why I was blindsided today, when he showed up, to deliver his message. To break up with me, for you. I was blindsided. I was angry. I was so, so angry. I wanted to call you, but I couldn’t make myself. So, I didn’t. But I couldn’t let it go either. I thought about the possibility of Archie finally realizing how perfect you were… after all, everyone always thought you two would end up together, me included. But Archie loves Veronica, and I thought we were in this too deep to opt out for anyone else at this point, so I ruled that out too. I was running out of options, when, suddenly, it hit me. If someone threatened you, you’d go against them, so that couldn’t be it. But if someone threatened all of us, unless you obeyed their orders, well… I think you’d obey them, even if it broke you in two to do so.”

            Silent tears were running down Betty’s face as she let him continue without interruption.

            There’s a long pause in which only her tiny sniffles can be heard, and when Jughead continues, it isn’t a question but a statement. “The Black Hood asked you to cut off your closest loved ones, or else he would do it for you. And when it came to be my turn, you couldn’t do it yourself, because this isn’t really what you wanted.” She isn’t sure why she thought she could hide anything from her own fellow Riverdale detective.

            “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. If I told anyone, they’d meet the same fate,” she whispered.

            “You didn’t tell me, Betts. I figured it out myself.” Suddenly, the pressure that has been weighing on her chest is lifted. Of course, _of course_ , there was a _loophole_. She didn’t tell him anything.

            And then, reality crashes back down on her, twice as heavy as before. She flips onto her knees and scoots forward, reaching out her hands to grab his before thinking twice about it and dropping them back into her lap. Her hands were balled up, and she could feel her crescent-shaped scars opening with the forced of her fist, but she couldn’t let herself do anything less or she would certainly touch him. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to anymore.

            “Jug…” Her voice cracked, and she looked up at him with wide, sad eyes. “Jug, I am so, so sorry. That’s not how it should’ve gone down. That shouldn’t have happened. None of this should have happened.” Her voice dropped down to a whisper. This man, this beautiful, broken man, sitting in front of her, was smart, and kind, and honest, and she had wronged him in a way that neither of them ever could have imagined.

            He reaches out a hand to gently caress her face, and she lets out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding as she leaned into it. “I know, Betts. I know. I forgive you.” She lifts her hand up to hold his, a small smile playing at her lips, but she frowns again when he winces.

            She pulls his hand away from her face as gently as she can, scanning over his bruised knuckles and split skin. “Jug…”

            He lets out a small laugh, and it makes Betty’s heart soar. “I sort of punched Archie, after he said some stuff about me that I don’t want to repeat. I forgot that his hard-headedness wasn’t only figuratively.”

            She lets out her first laugh all night at this, and gently kisses his hand. She clambers onto her feet, giving him a gentle tug so he’d stand up with her. “Will you stay with me tonight?” she asks, looking up into his beautiful blue eyes and wondering how she thought she could have ever followed through with this foolish breakup.

            “Are you sure?” Concern floods his gentle gaze, and she reaches up to place her hand on his cheek.

            “Please stay with me,” she whispers, pleading with her eyes.

            He pulls her into a gentle hug, and she sighs as she buries her head in his chest. “Always, Betty Cooper. Always.”


End file.
